dbq #1: the columbian exchange · historical context: in the late 1400s, european explorers found...
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DBQ #1: The Columbian Exchange
Historical Context: In the late 1400s, European explorers found the North American continent. Native
American peoples who were already living in North America had created a system of government and society
that rivaled Europe's. The cultural and biological exchange between the "New World" and the "Old World"
(North America and Europe, respectively) is often called the Columbian Exchange in reference to Christopher
Columbus.
Directions: The following question is based on the accompanying documents in Part A. As you analyze the
documents, take into account both the source of the document and the author’s point of view.
Be sure to:
• Carefully read the document based question.
o Consider what you already know about the topic
o How would you answer the question if you had no documents to examine?
• Now, read each document carefully, underlining key phrases and words that address the document based
question.
o You may also wish to use the margin of your paper for notes
o Answer the questions that follow each document
• Based on your knowledge of the topic and on the information found in the documents, formulate a
thesis that directly answers the question.
• Organize supportive and relevant information using the attached 5 paragraph outline worksheet.
o Completely write out your thesis statement in the appropriate place
o Completely write out each paragraph topic sentence
o The outline should be able to prove your thesis
o The information in the outline should be logically presented
o The outline should include both information from the documents and from your outside
knowledge of the subject
Question: In a well-planned essay, identify and evaluate: The reaction Native Americans had to the
Europeans; the reaction Europeans had to the Native Americans; how world culture/commerce was affected
because of the interaction between these two cultures.
Terms and concepts that do not appear in the documents but could be used in the final essay:
Bartholomew Dias Vasco da Gamma Henry the Navigator “The Black Legend”
Mercantilism Spices Encomienda Inca
Francisco Pizzaro Balboa Treaty of Tordesillas Papal Bull of 1494
“Virgin field outbreak”
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DBQ #1: The Colombian Exchange - Documents and Main Points
Essay Question: The reaction Native Americans had to the Europeans; the reaction Europeans had to the Native
Americans; how world culture/commerce was affected because of the interaction between these two cultures.
Organize your evidence: Which documents have the evidence?
Document Numbers Effects of the Colombian Exchange
Develop your Main Points: Group your effects of the Colombian Exchange. Use this to develop the three main
points of your essay.
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Document 1
From the diary of Christopher Columbus during his first voyage of exploration.
Saturday, 13 October. [1492] At daybreak great multitudes of men came to the shore, all young and of
fine shapes, very handsome; their hair not curled but straight and coarse like horse-hair, and all with foreheads
and heads much broader than any people I had seen; They came loaded with balls of cotton, parrots, javelins,
and other things too numerous to mention; these they exchanged for whatever we chose to give them.
Sunday, 14 October I saw a piece of land which appeared like an island, although it is not one, and on it
there were six houses. It might be converted into an island in two days, though I do not see that it would be
necessary, for these people are very simple as regards the use of arms, as your Highnesses will see from the
seven that I caused to be taken, to bring home and learn our language and return; unless your Highnesses
should order them all to be brought to Castile, or to be kept as captives on the same island; for with fifty men
they can all be subjugated and made to do what is required of them.
What type of source is this? (Primary or secondary and WHAT is it?) _________________________________
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What is the bias of the author? What might account for this bias? _____________________________________
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What did Columbus observe about the Natives? ___________________________________________________
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What do the immediate actions of both the Native Americans and Spaniards tell us about their priorities?
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Document 2
A description of Aztec reaction to Cortez from a messenger's report to Montezuma, 1519. Translated from
Aztec by Franciscan missionaries in the late-1500s.
[Montezuma] was also terrified to learn how the cannon roared, how its noise resounded, how it caused
one to faint and grow deaf. The messengers told him: “A thing like a ball of stone comes out of its entrails: it
comes out shooting sparks and raining fire. The smoke that comes out of it has a pestilential odor, like that of
rotten mud. If the cannon is aimed against a mountain, the mountain splits and cracks open. If it is aimed
against a tree, it shatters the tree into splinters. This is a most unnatural sight, as if the tree had exploded from
within.”
The messengers also said: “Their trappings and arms are all made of iron. They dress in iron and wear
iron casques [helmets] on their heads. Their swords are iron; their bows are iron; their shields are iron; their
spears are iron. Their deer carry them on their backs wherever they wish to go. These deer, our lord, are as tall
as the roof of a house.
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“The strangers’ bodies are completely covered, so that only their faces can be seen. Their skin is white,
as if it were made of lime. They have yellow hair, though some of them have black. Their beards are long and
yellow, and their moustaches are also yellow. Their hair is curly, with very fine strands.
When [Montezuma] heard this report, he was filled with terror. It was as if his heart had fainted, as if it
had shriveled. It was as if he were conquered by despair.
What type of source is this? (Primary or secondary and WHAT is it?) _________________________________
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What is the bias of the author? What might account for this bias? _____________________________________
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What is the Aztec impression of the Spaniards? What might account for this? ___________________________
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How does this passage explain the initial military success of the Spaniards? ____________________________
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Document 3
The Amerindians' fate did not go unnoticed in Europe, where the ethical and legal basis of their harsh treatment
became the subject of significant debate. Charles V, king of Spain and the Holy Roman Emperor, added fuel to
the fire. In 1550, he ordered a panel of lawyers and theologians at the University of Valladolid to evaluate the
positions of two prominent opposing voices on the issue, Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda (1490–1573) and Bartolomé
de Las Casas (1474 –1566). Drawing heavily on Aristotle's notion that hierarchy was natural, Sepúlveda argued
that the Spanish had the right to enslave Amerindians because they were an inferior and less civilized people.
Las Casas, whose response is excerpted below, rejected Sepúlveda's position, based in part on his own
experience living in Spanish America. Here he witnessed firsthand the devastating human impact of
colonization and was ultimately swayed by the local Dominicans' campaign against the mistreatment of Indians.
[The Indians] are not ignorant, inhuman, or bestial. Rather, long before they had heard the word
Spaniard they had properly organized states, wisely ordered by excellent laws, religion, and custom. They
cultivated friendship and, bound together in common fellowship, lived in populous cities in which they wisely
administered the affairs of both peace and war justly and equitably, truly governed by laws that at very many
points surpass ours, and could have won the admiration of the sages of Athens.
The Indian race is not that barbaric, nor are they dull witted or stupid, but they are easy to teach and
very talented in learning all the liberal arts, and very ready to accept, honor, and observe the Christian religion
and correct their sins (as experience has taught) once priests have introduced them to the sacred mysteries and
taught them the word of God. They have been endowed with excellent conduct, and before the coming of the
Spaniards, as we have said, they had political states that were well founded on beneficial laws.
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What type of source is this? (Primary or secondary and WHAT is it?) _________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
What is the bias of the author? What might account for this bias? _____________________________________
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How does Las Casas depict Amerindian civilization? What attributes does he highlight and why?
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Despite Las Casas's vigorous defense of the Indians, what prejudices and assumptions of his own did he bring to
bear in this work?
Document 4
The College Board: Teaching and Learning with Documents. Farming and Food Mega Calories
North America Europe
Chief Crops Mega Calories per Hectare Chief Crops Mega Calories per Hectare
Maize 7.3 Rice 7.3
Potato 7.5 Wheat 4.2
Yams (Sweet Potato) 7.1 Barley 5.1
Cassava 9.9 Oats 5.5
What type of source is this? (Primary or secondary and WHAT is it?) _________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
What is the bias of the author? What might account for this bias? _____________________________________
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Which area had a higher calorie average? ________________________________________________________
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Of the 4 European crops listed, which one was the most important? Why? (Hint: look beyond calories and think
about the geography and climate of Europe) _____________________________________________________
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What effect did this exchange have on Europe and European society? _________________________________
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What effect did this exchange have on the peoples of North and South America? _________________________
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Document 5
The College Board: Teaching and Learning with Documents.
Forms of Biological Life Going From:
Old World to New World: New World to Old World:
Diseases Smallpox
Measles
Chicken Pox
Malaria
Yellow Fever
Influenza
The Common Cold
Syphilis
(This is a matter of scientific dispute. There is
some evidence to suggest that syphilis existed in
Europe before the 15th century voyages of
exploration.)
Animals Horses
Cattle
Pigs
Sheep
Goats
Chickens
Turkeys
Llamas
Alpacas
Guinea Pigs
Plants Rice
Wheat
Barley
Oats
Coffee
Sugarcane
Bananas
Melons
Olives
Dandelions
Daisies
Clover
Ragweed
Kentucky Bluegrass
Corn (Maize)
Potatoes (White & Sweet Varieties)
Beans (Snap, Kidney, & Lima Varieties)
Tobacco
Peanuts
Squash
Peppers
Tomatoes
Pumpkins
Pineapples
Cacao (Source of Chocolate)
Chicle (Source of Chewing Gum)
Papayas
Manioc (Tapioca)
Guavas
Avocados
What type of source is this? (Primary or secondary and WHAT is it?) _________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
What is the bias of the author? What might account for this bias? _____________________________________
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What were the overall effects of this exchange on the Europeans? ____________________________________
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What were the overall effects of this exchange on the Native Americans? ______________________________
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Document 6
The Estimated Populations of Later Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Estimates by sociologists J. C.
Russell (red) and Jan de Vries (blue)
What type of source is this? (Primary or secondary and WHAT is it?) _________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
What is the bias of the author as it relates to the essay? What might account for this bias? _________________
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What might account for the trends depicted in these graphs?
How might these trends affect European politics, culture and economics?
Document 7
These graphs refer only to populations in what is now the United States. There is no full consensus among
scholars regarding the figures underlying Graph 1; in particular, the size of the indigenous population of the
New World at the time of contact is a matter of dispute, and indeed may be unknowable. From: Sources for
America’s History, 7th Edition (2010)
Graph 1: Native American Population in North
America
Graph 2: Non-native Population in North America
What type of source is this? (Primary or secondary and WHAT is it?) _________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
What is the bias of the author as it relates to the essay? What might account for this bias? _________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
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What might account for the trends depicted in these graphs?
Put this rate of decline in perspective by thinking about a family, a clan, or a tribe. Speculate about the social
impact. Imagine a state—say, Wisconsin, with a population of about 5 million in 1990—losing 95 percent of its
people. How would the survivors feel? How could they maintain their economic activities?
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Document 8
"Loss of hand because gold quota not met" Engraving commissioned by Bartolome De Las Casas for his 1552
book A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies.
What type of source is this? (Primary or
secondary and WHAT is it?)
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
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What is the bias of the author? What might
account for this bias?
Based on the document, what was the standard
attitude of the Spanish towards the Natives?
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According to the title this document, the penalty for missing the Gold quota was a loss of a hand. Why would
the Spanish cut off workers hands? What other actions are evident in this source?
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Document 9
Between 1637 and 1639, Spanish missionary Cristoval de Acuña made an exploration of South America's Amazon River. Acuña published this account of his adventure, New Discovery of the Amazons, in 1641.
All this new world, if we may call it so, is inhabited by barbarians, in distinct provinces and nations, of
which I am enabled to give an account, naming them and pointing out their residences, some from my own
observations, and others from information of the Indians.
They exceed one hundred and fifty, all with different languages. These nations are so near each other,
that from the last villages of one they hear the people of the other at work. But this proximity does not lead to
peace; on the contrary, they are engaged in constant wars, in which they kill and take prisoners great numbers
of souls every day.
But though, among themselves, they are so warlike, none of them showed courage to face Spaniards, as
I observed throughout the voyage, in which the Indians never dared to use any defense against us, except that of
flight.
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What type of source is this? (Primary or secondary and WHAT is it?) _________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
What is the bias of the author? What might account for this bias? _____________________________________
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How dose Acuña portray the Native Americans? __________________________________________________
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How might this attitude influence European policy? ________________________________________________
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Document 10
A Spanish explorer and adventurer, Hernando Cortés landed in Mexico in 1519 and promptly claimed the region for Spain. Below is an excerpt of a letter he wrote to Spain's King Charles V in 1520, describing Mexico.
Three halls are in this grand temple, which contain the principal idols; these are of wonderful extent
and height, and admirable workmanship, adorned with figures sculptured in stone and wood. In these chapels
are the images of idols, although, as I have before said, many of them are also found on the outside; the
principal ones, in which the people have greatest faith and confidence, I precipitated from their pedestals, and
cast them down the steps of the temple, purifying the chapels in which they had stood, as they were all polluted
with human blood, shed ill the sacrifices. In the place of these I put images of Our Lady and the Saints.
What type of source is this? (Primary or secondary and WHAT is it?) _________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
What is the bias of the author? What might account for this bias? _____________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
What does this action indicate about future Spanish policy towards the Native Americans?
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Document 11
By 1740, the European powers had colonized much of North and South America and incorporated their colonies
there into a worldwide system of commerce centered on the slave trade and plantation production of staple
crops. Europeans still sought spices and luxury goods in China and the East Indies, but outside of Java, few
Europeans had settled permanently in these areas. From: The Making of the West, 3rd Edition by Lynn Hunt.
What type of source is this? (Primary or secondary and WHAT is it?) _________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
What is the bias of the author as it relates to the essay? What might account for this bias? _________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
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Describe the trade pattern shown here. What products are going to Europe? Which products to the colonies?
What products or resources are NOT listed in this source? (See #4 and #5)
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What would be the economic, social and political effects of this trade system?
Document 12
Part of a French expedition to Peru, South America to accumulate scientific measurements regarding the Earth's
meridian at the equator, Jorge Juan and Antonio de Ulloa were gifted Spanish mathematicians and scientists.
They published this account of their travels, an excerpt of which appears below, in 1748.
The inhabitants of Lima [Peru] are composed of whites, or Spaniards, Negroes, Indians, Mestizos, and
other casts, proceeding from the mixture of all three.
The Spanish families are very numerous; Lima according to the lowest computation, containing sixteen
or eighteen thousand whites, Among these are reckoned a third or fourth part of the most distinguished nobility
of Peru; and many of these dignified with the style of ancient or modern Castilians, among which are no less
than 45 counts and marquises. The number of knights belonging to the several military orders is also very
considerable. Besides these are many families no less respectable and living in equal splendor; particularly 24
gentlemen of large estates, but without titles, tho' most of them have ancient seats, a proof of the antiquity of
their families.
The Negroes, Mulattoes, and their descendants, form the greater number of the inhabitants; and of these
are the greatest part of the mechanics; tho' here the Europeans also follow the same occupations, which are not
at Lima reckoned disgraceful to them, as they are at Quito; for gain being here the universal passion, the
inhabitants pursue it by means of any trade, without regard to its being followed by Mulattoes, interest here
preponderating against any other consideration.
The third, and last class of inhabitants are the Indians and Mestizos, but these are very small in
proportion to the largeness of the city, and the multitudes of the second class. They are employed in agriculture,
in making earthen ware, and bringing all kinds of provisions to market, domestic services being performed by
Negroes and Mulattoes, either slaves or free, though generally by the former
What type of source is this? (Primary or secondary and WHAT is it?) _________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
What is the bias of the author as it relates to the essay? What might account for this bias? _________________
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What does this passage indicate about the society that the Spanish developed after their conquest of South
America?
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Five Paragraph Outline Worksheet
Introduction Paragraph
Background- No more than two sentences. (What was going on at the time and the historical significance of the
period-as it relates to the question)
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Main point #1- No more than one sentence.
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Main point #2- No more than one sentence.
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Main point #3- No more than one sentence.
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Thesis (must directly answer the question and tie the main points together)
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Body Paragraph #1
Topic sentence (Same as main point #1, limits paragraph to ONE idea and must directly support the thesis)
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Evidence (specific person, law, treaty, development…)
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Evidence (specific person, law, treaty, development…)
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Evidence (specific person, law, treaty, development…)
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Transition (Connects to the next paragraph in a complex manner using a connecting sentence)
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Body Paragraph #2
Topic sentence (Same as main point #2, limits paragraph to ONE idea and must directly support the thesis)
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Evidence (specific person, law, treaty, development…)
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Evidence (specific person, law, treaty, development…)
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Evidence (specific person, law, treaty, development…)
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Transition (Connects to the next paragraph in a complex manner using a connecting sentence)
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Body Paragraph #3
Topic sentence (Same as main point #3, limits paragraph to ONE idea and must directly support the thesis)
_________________________________________________________________________________________
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Evidence (specific person, law, treaty, development…)
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Evidence (specific person, law, treaty, development…)
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Evidence (specific person, law, treaty, development…)
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Transition (Connects to the next paragraph in a complex manner using a connecting sentence)
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Conclusion paragraph
Very brief review of the essay. Sum it up in no more than two sentences.
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Importance of the topic during its time
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Long term historical importance of the topic
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